Natural Fiber-Polypropylene Composites Made from Caranday Palm
Estela Krause Sammartino1,2,3†, María Marta Reboredo4, Mirta I. Aranguren*,4
Journal of Renewable Materials, Vol.4, No.2, pp. 101-112, 2016, DOI:10.7569/JRM.2014.634144
Abstract Composites made from polypropylene (PP) and local South American fibers traditionally used in yarnderived craftsmanships, Caranday Palm, were studied regarding the effect of fiber addition, concentration and characteristics of the coupling agent (molecular weight and percentage of grafted maleic anhydride), as well as type of processing. A laboratory-scale intensive mixing followed by compression, and pilot plant twin extrusion followed by injection, were the two processes investigated. The use of the first one allowed the selection of processable formulations with high fiber concentration and a percentage of coupling agent below the surface fiber saturation. In fact,… More >